Lear Adds Production to Make Protective Face Masks; Face Shields in Development

Recent donations made to Detroit Medical Center and City of Detroit

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Mar 30, 2020, 08:00 ET

SOUTHFIELD, Mich., March 30, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- Lear Corporation (NYSE: LEA), a global automotive technology leader in Seating and E-Systems, has added capacity at its AccuMED production facility, which specializes in the manufacturing of medical products, to produce protective masks to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.

Donations of masks were made recently to the Detroit Medical Center, the largest health care provider in southeast Michigan, and the City of Detroit for use by the police and fire departments.

"We are proud to support pandemic relief efforts in the communities where we live and work," said Lear President and CEO Ray Scott. "Protecting hospital staff and public safety officers has never been more important as they continue to go to work every day during this crisis to help others in need."

In February, Lear's Mocksville, N.C., facility designed a facemask in response to a shortage of personal protective equipment in China. Lear then added production capacity for masks in less than 72 hours. With cases of COVID-19 rising in other areas of the world, the operation has expanded from three production lines to seven, and now employs 200 people. Total capacity is 25,000 units per day, based on availability of raw materials.

In addition to the donations made recently in Detroit, Lear-produced masks have been delivered to other global locations based on the employee and community need for personal protective equipment. Lear is also moving to start production at plants in Mexico and Europe to manufacture protective masks. Once fully operational, Lear will have dedicated about 1,200 workers and will have the daily global capacity to produce 125,000 masks for local communities.

Additionally, the Mocksville facility is currently designing and developing full face shield visors for production to support the health care response to the COVID-19 pandemic.

"We are committed to making donations of personal protective equipment until this situation improves," Scott added.

About Lear Corporation
Lear, a global automotive technology leader in Seating and E-Systems, enables superior in-vehicle experiences for consumers around the world. Our diverse team of talented employees in 39 countries is driven by a commitment to innovation, operational excellence, and sustainability. Lear is Making every drive better™ by providing the technology for safer, smarter, and more comfortable journeys. Lear, headquartered in Southfield, Michigan, serves every major automaker in the world and ranks #147 on the Fortune 500.

SOURCE Lear Corporation